Corporate Whistleblower
If you know of criminal activity in which you did not meaningfully participate, you may be eligible for the Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. This program is best suited for employees of a corporation who know of the criminal conduct but did not participate at all or could only be considered a minimal participant who is plainly among the least culpable.
The Criminal Division Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program is managed by the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. The corporate whistleblower program helps federal prosecutors uncover and prosecute corporate crimes not covered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network whistleblower program.
If a whistleblower provides the Criminal Division with truthful information about corporate misconduct (that is otherwise unknown to the government), and that information leads to the government obtaining a criminal conviction and/or forfeiture order, the whistleblower may be eligible for a money award. The amount of the award is measured as a percentage of the property forfeited, depending on a host of factors listed in the program guidance.
The information provided must related to one of the following:
- healthcare fraud schemes involving private insurance plans;
- domestic corruption involving misconduct by companies;
- certain crimes involving financial institutions, from traditional banks to cryptocurrency businesses; or
- foreign corruption involving misconduct by companies.
The most common complaints not covered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network whistleblower program include:
- Violations by financial institutions and abuse of the financial system, such as fraud against U.S. financial institutions, failure to register money-transmitting businesses, and defrauding financial regulators;
- Foreign corruption schemes related to foreign corruption and bribery, violations of the money laundering statutes, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act that do not involve issuers;
- Domestic corruption schemes related to the payment of bribes and kickbacks to public officials or employees; and
- Federal health care offenses involving private insurers, fraud against patients, and other violations that cannot be pursued via qui tam actions.
If the company becomes aware of an internal whistleblower report and voluntarily completes a self-report within 120 days, and the self-report is received before the Department contacts the company, then the company may become eligible for a presumption of a declination under the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy.
An attorney can help you complete the whistleblower intake form, which can be emailed to CorporateWhistleblower@usdoj.gov.
This article was last updated on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
